Fantasy football: Injury risk hovers over all NFL players

Sunday

Dec 16, 2012 at 12:01 AMDec 16, 2012 at 12:28 AM

I’m not sure if you’ve heard about this or not — it has only been being rehashed since October — but the Eagles aren’t having a great season.

When you have star power like they do, though, and drop 10 of 12 games, including an eight-game losing streak, it will get continued attention. Philly’s latest debacle came Thursday night against Cincinnati, when it gave up a three-point halftime lead by being outscored in the second half, 24-0.

A look at the Eagles’ leaders in that game further illustrate their trials, as no one could have expected Nick Foles (a mediocre 182 passing yards), Bryce Brown (a horrendous 34 rushing yards on 16 carries) and Jeremy Maclin (finally a respectable 73 receiving yards) to be their stars this deep into the season.

This got me to thinking that although Philadelphians would argue — and do they do anything else? — the NFL seems to have avoided many heavy injuries this season.

It’s just that Philly brings us some of those biggest ones. Michael Vick has to be the quarterback whom most fantasy owners counted on and who has missed the most time this season. His concussion has kept him on the sidelines since he went out on Nov. 11. He wasn’t having a great season (11 TDs against nine interceptions and only one rushing score), but when the other big-name QBs to miss time have been Kevin Kolb (the big-name adjective is used loosely there) and Ben Roethlisberger (sidelined three games), then Vick’s absence looms larger.

One week after Vick went down, Philadelphia must have felt under a concussion epidemic as lead running back LeSean McCoy went out with one and has not played since. That’s a top-five overall fantasy draft pick who has not played in the last four games. Those who were counting on Maurice Jones-Drew, who hasn’t played since Oct. 21, aren’t interested in offering much sympathy, though.

If you don’t have one of those two guys, though, the worst running back injury issues have been to second-tier guys Willis McGahee and Fred Jackson, so again things don’t look that dire on the whole.

The injuries seem to mount as we get to receivers, though. The Eagles again got a blow as DeSean Jackson only caught three passes for 14 yards over his last two games, already causing concern before being shut down with fractured ribs before December started.

The Jets haven’t had Santonio Holmes since September, and their offense spiraled downward into the rare three-tiered quarterback controversy. Minnesota’s Percy Harvin continued his constant impressive fantasy allure before carrying on his nearly-as-constant status of being never fully healthy, taking it all the way to IR. This week, Kansas City sent Dwayne Bowe onto that list as well.

Sometimes it feels better to own some of those sidelined players, for at least their statuses aren’t up in the air. The owners of the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant, on the other hand, have been going through a rollercoaster week after he broke his finger, was rumored to be possibly be out for the season, but then declared he would play today against the Steelers.

Roddy White’s owners didn’t have the same highs and lows, but now are poised for a potentially precarious plummet as the Falcons receiver missed two practices this week with a knee injury that didn’t seem important until he was sitting out.

Or maybe both of those feel bigger than they are because I own both of them.

I guess this is one of those things that gets infinitely bigger when it affects you. Nowhere in this season did we have a situation like Peyton Manning’s neck or Tom Brady’s knee, but football is a sometimes vicious game with sometimes extreme consequences. It is unavoidable that injuries will play into your season.

Just like every week, we have to deal with the maddening injury reports. Teams need only provide the vaguest of details concerning the malady and fantasy owners must be diligent Sunday morning if they want to know just what some of those bits of info mean for playing time. Every team uses it in a different way, too.

Friday’s injury reports ranged from five players on Denver’s to 22 on Houston’s (see chart). In Seattle, Indianapolis, Miami and Jacksonville, one is only probable or out. In San Francisco, nearly everyone is probable (which must make the Mario Manningham, the one doubtful, really doubtful). In New Orleans almost everyone is out (which at least seems honest reporting). And here in New England, everything is questionable.

I suppose it could just be the timing of the fantasy season that makes my mind ramble through such issues. Every league is into playoff time now, and if a player who helped you get there suddenly may be stuck on the bench, it can cost you a chance at cash and prizes.

I have come around in the last few years to seeing that the standard head-to-head fantasy football format works with the game’s schedule and gives it some of its character, but on a day like today my former feelings that a year-long points system is fairer are re-awakened.

But hey, at least I don’t have Robert Griffin III (who won’t start, but I can’t imagine he doesn’t get on the field at some point today), and I am an owner of Rob Gronkowski (listed as questionable and I can’t imagine he plays today, but he might next week and that is enough for me).

But good luck to all who still care how their team competes today. At this point it’s out of our hands and in the ACLs and rotator cuffs of others.

NFL team injury reports are supposed to provide information, but the way they do so is rather dubious. Teams use them in different ways, making its hoped-for standards rather flimsy.

How many players each team listed as probable, questionable, doubtful and out on Friday’s report:

Contact Josh Bousquet at jbousquet@telegram.com.

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